St. Cloud, Minnesota
|established_title2 = |established_date2 = |established_title3 = |established_date3 = |unit_pref = Imperial |area_footnotes = |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = 106.40 |area_land_km2 = 103.70 |area_water_km2 = 2.69 |area_total_sq_mi = 41.08 |area_land_sq_mi = 40.04 |area_water_sq_mi = 1.04 |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_metro_km2 = |area_metro_sq_mi = |population_as_of = 2010 |population_est = 66297 |pop_est_as_of = 2013 |population_footnotes = |population_total = 65842 |population_density_km2 = 634.9 |population_density_sq_mi = 1644.4 |population_rank = US: 520th |population_metro = 191,306 (US: 222th) |population_density_metro_km2 = |population_density_metro_sq_mi = |population_urban = 110,621 (US: 281th) |timezone = CST |utc_offset = -6 |timezone_DST = CDT |utc_offset_DST = -5 |coordinates_display = inline,title |coordinates_type = region:US_type:city |latd = 45 |latm = 33 |latNS = N |longd = 94 |longm = 10|longEW = W |elevation_m = 314 |elevation_ft = 1030 |postal_code_type = ZIP codes |postal_code = 56301, 56302, 56303, 56304, 56393, 56397, 56398 |area_code = 320 |blank_name = FIPS code |blank_info = 27-56896 |blank1_name = GNIS feature ID |blank1_info = 2396483 |website = www.ci.stcloud.mn.us |footnotes = }} St. Cloud is a city in the State of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. Its population is 66,297 according to 2013 census estimates, making it Minnesota's eighth largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stearns County and was named after the city of Saint-Cloud, France (in Île-de-France, near Paris), which was named for the 6th-century French monk Clodoald. Though mostly in Stearns County, St. Cloud also extends into Benton and Sherburne counties, and the Mississippi River runs through the city. It is the center of a small, contiguous urban area totaling over 114,000 residents, with Waite Park, Sauk Rapids, Sartell, St. Joseph, Rockville, and St. Augusta directly bordering the city, and Foley, Rice, Kimball, Clearwater, Clear Lake, and Cold Spring nearby. With 189,093 residents at the 2010 census, the St. Cloud metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in Minnesota, behind Minneapolis–St. Paul, Duluth–Superior, and Rochester. (The population of Fargo-Moorhead is also larger than St. Cloud's, but most of that is in North Dakota, with only 58,999 residents in Minnesota.) St. Cloud is northwest of the "Twin Cities" of Minneapolis–St. Paul along Interstate 94, U.S. Highway 10, and Minnesota State Highway 23. The St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is made up of Stearns and Benton Counties. The city was included in a newly defined Minneapolis–St. Paul–St. Cloud Combined Statistical Area (CSA) in 2000. St. Cloud as a whole has never been part of the 13-county MSA comprising Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington and parts of western Wisconsin,Metro Council website, Twin Cities Metropolican Area Geographic Definitions, "Definitions Used By The U.S. Census Bureau" although its Sherburne County portion is considered part of the Twin Cities metropolitan area by Census Bureau definition. St. Cloud State University, Minnesota's second-largest public university, is between downtown and the Beaver Islands that form a maze for a two-mile stretch of the Mississippi. The approximately 30 undeveloped islands are a popular destination for kayak and canoe enthusiastsMinnesota Department of Natural Resources, "Mississippi River", "St. Cloud to Anoka" and are part of a state-designated 12-mile stretch of wild and scenic river. St. Cloud owns and operates a hydroelectric dam on the Mississippi that can produce up to nine megawatts of electricity.City of St. Cloud, Public Utilities, Hydroelectric ServicesJohn Weeks, [http://www.johnweeks.com/headwaters/pages03/stclouddam.html John Weeks, The Bridges and Structures of the Mississippi River Headwaters], A Detailed Look At The Bridges, Dams And Other Structures On The Mississippi River In The Headwaters Region From Lake Itasca To Minneapolis, November 2007. History What is now the St. Cloud area was occupied by various indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Europeans encountered the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Winnebago when they started to trade with Native American peoples. Minnesota was organized as a territory in 1849. The St. Cloud area was opened up to settlers in 1851 after treaty negotiations with the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) tribe in 1851 and 1852. John Wilson, a Maine native with French Huguenot ancestry and an interest in Napoleon, named the settlement St. Cloud after Saint-Cloud, the Paris suburb where Napoleon had his favorite palace. St. Cloud was a waystation on the Middle and Woods branches of the Red River Trails used by Métis traders between the Canadian border at Pembina, North Dakota and St. Paul. The cart trains often consisted of hundreds of oxcarts. The Métis, bringing furs to trade for supplies to take back to their rural settlements, would camp west of the city and cross the Mississippi in St. Cloud or just to the north in Sauk Rapids The City of St. Cloud was incorporated in 1856. It developed from three distinct settlements, known as Upper Town, Middle Town, and Lower Town, that were established by European-American settlers starting in 1853."3 Towns Into 1 City, A Narrative Record of Significant Factors in The Story Of St. Cloud Minnesota." Remnants of the deep ravines that separated the three are still visible today. Middle Town was settled primarily by Catholic German immigrants and migrants from eastern states, who were recruited to the region by Father Francis Xavier Pierz, a Catholic priest who also ministered as a missionary to Native Americans. Lower Town was founded by settlers from the Northern Tier of New England and the mid-Atlantic states, including former residents of upstate New York. Upper Town, or Arcadia, was plotted by General Sylvanus Lowry, a slaveholder and trader from Kentucky who brought slaves with him, although Minnesota was organized as a free territory."Sylvanus Lowry", Minnesota Legislators Past and Present, accessed 4 Juley 2012 He served on the territorial Council from 1852 to 1853 and was elected St. Cloud's first mayor in 1856, serving for one year. Jane Grey Swisshelm, an abolitionist newspaper editor who had migrated from Pittsburgh, repeatedly attacked Lowry in print. At one point he organized a "Committee of Vigilance" that broke into Swisshelm's newspaper office and removed her press, throwing it into the Mississippi River. Lowry started a rival paper, The Union.Ambar Espinoza, "St. Cloud professor unearths history of slavery in Minnesota", Minnesota Public Radio, 7 May 2010, accessed 4 July 2012 The US Supreme Court's 1857 decision in the Dred Scott case ruled that slaves could not file freedom suits, as well as declaring the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, so the territory's prohibition against slavery became unenforceable. Nearly all Southerners left the St. Cloud area when the Civil War broke out, taking their slaves with them. Lowry died in the city in 1865. Beginning in 1864 Stephen Miller served a two-year term as Minnesota governor, the only citizen of St. Cloud ever to hold the office. Miller was a "Pennsylvania German businessman", lawyer, writer, active abolitionist, and personal friend of Alexander Ramsey. He was on the state's Republican electoral ticket with Abraham Lincoln in 1860.John J. Dominik Jr., "Three Towns Into One City," St. Cloud, Minnesota: St Cloud Area Bicentennial Commission, 1976, p. 13 Steamboats regularly docked at St. Cloud as part of the fur trade and other commerce, although river levels were not reliable. Granite quarries have operated in the area since the 1880s, giving St. Cloud its nickname, "The Granite City." In 1917, Samuel Pandolfo started the Pan Motor Company in St. Cloud. Pandolfo claimed his Pan-Cars would make St. Cloud the new Detroit. He was later convicted and imprisoned for attempting to defraud investors. Parks The city maintains 95 parks, totaling more than and ranging in size from 80 "neighborhood and mini parks" to . The largest developed park, Whitney Memorial Park, is the former location of the city airport. It features a recreation center for senior citizens, a dog park, and numerous softball, baseball, and soccer fields. Transportation St. Cloud is a regional transportation hub within Minnesota. Major roadways including Interstate Highway 94, U.S. Highway 10, and Minnesota State Highways 15 and 23 pass through the city. Bus service within the city and to neighboring Sartell, Sauk Rapids, and Waite Park is offered through St. Cloud Metro Bus which was recognized in 2007 as the best transit system of its size in North America. An innovative system gives transit buses a slight advantage at stoplights in order to improve efficiency and on-time performance.WCCO News, "System Helps St. Cloud Buses Stay In The Green", July 17, 2009. The Metro Bus Transit Center in the downtown area is also shared with Jefferson Lines, providing national bus service. Bus service links downtown St. Cloud and St. Cloud State University with the western terminus of the Northstar Commuter Rail line in Big Lake, by the way of Northstar Link Commuter Bus, which in turn links to the Metro Transit bus and light rail system at Target Field Station in downtown Minneapolis. Several rail lines run through the city, which is a stop on Amtrak's Empire Builder passenger rail line. St. Cloud is also home to St. Cloud Regional Airport, from which daily connecting flights to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport were made on Delta Connection, operated by Mesaba Airlines, until January 1, 2010, when the service was discontinued. On December 15, 2012, Allegiant Air began nonstop flights between St. Cloud Regional Airport and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, on McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft. In 2014 United Express began two daily roundtrip flights between STC and Chicago O'Hare. Major highways * Interstate 94 * U.S. Highway 10 * Minnesota State Highway 15 * Minnesota State Highway 23 Education The city of St. Cloud is part of the St. Cloud Area School District, which serves St. Cloud, St. Augusta, Clearwater, Waite Park, St. Joseph, and Haven Township. The district has eight elementary schools, a new K-8 school in St. Joseph, and two major public high schools, St. Cloud Technical High School and St. Cloud Apollo High School. St. Cloud also has a major private high school, Cathedral High School. Both public high schools offer a broad selection of Advanced Placement courses, and rank high in the state in number of AP tests taken and of test takers. St. Cloud Tech is the older of the two, opening in 1917, and is just west of downtown on the city's south side. Apollo opened in 1970 and serves the expanding north side of the city. Other high schools and secondary schools that serve the city of St. Cloud include St. Robert Bellarmine's Academy, St. Cloud Christian School, Immaculate Conception Academy, St. John's Preparatory School, and St. Cloud Alternative Learning Center. St. Cloud also has one of the most successful charter schools in the state, STRIDE Academy, which is K-8. The nearby cities of Sauk Rapids and Sartell also have their own school districts and high schools, bringing the number of public high schools in the metropolitan area to four. Colleges St. Cloud is home to several higher education facilities, including Minnesota's second-largest university, St. Cloud State University. St. Cloud State's fall 2013 enrollment was 16,245, including 1,604 graduate students, 1,025 international students and 700 veteran students. Other post-secondary institutions and campuses in St. Cloud include St. Cloud Technical and Community College (SCTCC), Rasmussen College and Globe University/Minnesota School of Business. Neighboring Sartell is home to a campus of the Duluth-based College of St. Scholastica, and the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University are in neighboring St. Joseph and nearby Collegeville, respectively. Politics The mayor of St. Cloud is Dave Kleis, who won reelection in 2012 running unopposed. St. Cloud is in Minnesota's 6th congressional district, represented by Michele Bachmann (R). St. Cloud is partly in Minnesota House of Representatives district 14A, represented by Tama Theis ®, and partly in 14B, represented by Zachary Dorholt (DFL). State Senate District 14 is represented by vice chair of the state capital investment committee John Pederson ®. In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama and Joe Biden won 54% of the vote in the city, and John McCain and Sarah Palin 46%.County of Stearns, Minnesota, election results. Past mayors of St. Cloud include Sylvanus B. Lowry (1856), John L. Wilson (1857–58), E. O. Hamlin (1868), J. A. McDonald (1900), J. R. Boyd (1901), J. E. C. Robinson (1902–05 and 1906), J. N. Bensen (1905), David McCarty (1907), Louis Brown (1907), Hugh Evans (1908–09), D. H. Freeman (1910 and 1916–19), P. J. Seberger (1911–12), H. J. Limperich (1919), W. W. Matson (1920–24), J. Arthur Bensen (1924–28), James H. Murphy (1928–32, 1945–48), Phil Collignon (1932–45), Mathew Malisheski (1948–52), Lawrence A. Borgert (1952), George Byers (1953–60), Thomas E. Mealey (1960–64), Ed Henry (1964–71), Al Loehr (1971–80), Sam Huston (1980–89), Chuck Winkelman (1989–97), Larry Meyer (1997–2001), and John Ellenbecker (2001–05). Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ; is land and is water. The city is bisected by the Mississippi River, and part of the Sauk River runs along its northern edge. Just south of downtown, near Technical High School, is the 7-acre, 35-feet-deep Lake George. Adjacent communities *Sartell – north *Sauk Rapids – northeast *St Augusta – south *Waite Park – west south-west * Rockville—southwest * St. Joseph—west Climate St. Cloud lies in the warm summer humid continental climate zone (Köppen climate classification Dfb), with hot, humid summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. January is the coldest month, with an average high temperature of 19 °F (−7 °C) and an average low temperature of −1 °F (−18 °C). July is the warmest month, with an average high of 82 °F (28 °C) and an average low of 58 °F (14 °C). |source 2=The Weather Channel (records) |date=October 2011 }} Demographics 2013 Estimate }} 2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 65,842 people, 25,439 households, and 13,348 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 27,338 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 84.6% White, 7.8% African American, 0.7% Native American, 3.7% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population. There were 25,439 households of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.6% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.5% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age in the city was 28.8 years. 18.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 23.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.5% were from 25 to 44; 21.5% were from 45 to 64; and 10.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.5% male and 48.5% female. 2000 census St. Cloud is the principal city of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan area that covers Sherburne, Benton and Stearns counties and had a combined population of 167,392 at the 2000 census. In the 2000 census, 27.3% of St. Cloud households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.4% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.9% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.00. The median income for a household in the city was $37,346, and the median income for a family was $50,460. Males had a median income of $33,670 versus $23,759 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,769. About 5.0% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.0% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over. Culture Sports The city is home to *the St. Cloud State University Division I ice hockey teams. Men's Husky Hockey competes in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Women's Husky Hockey competes in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The men's team has made nine NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship appearances, notably advancing to the 2013 Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Penn. The 2012-13 team's co-captain and fifth-year forward, Drew LeBlanc, was named WCHA Player of the Year and earned numerous national honors, including the Hobey Baker Award, the most prestigious award in men's college hockey. The 2013 team earned also earned a share of the WCHA league title and its symbol, the century-old MacNaughton Cup. The Huskies play in the 5,763-seat Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, which underwent a $18 million renovation and expansion in 2012-13. *the Granite City Lumberjacks, a tier III hockey team. *the St. Cloud Rox (formerly the River Bats) of the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. The Rox play at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud and were founded in 2012. *the Saint Cloud Area Roller Dolls, a flat-track roller derby league founded in 2011. Sites of interest in 2012.]] * Cathedral of Saint Mary, the largest church serving the oldest parish in the community, built in the 1920s in the Italian Romanesque style. The Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Cloud. * The St. Cloud Central Business District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. St. Cloud is a Preserve America Community.http://www.stclouddowntown.com/files/374.pdf * St. Cloud State University, with 16,457 students from about 80 nations. * Great River Regional Library, a six-county regional system serving 32 communities. A new main library building opened in St. Cloud in September 2008. * Munsinger Gardens and Clemens Gardens, extensive flower gardens dating from the 1930s. See Munsinger Clemens Botanical Society. * Quarry Park, a unique public park that features 20 granite quarries, hiking, biking and ski trails. Part of the Stearns County park system. * Paramount Theatre and Visual Arts Center, a restored 1700-seat theater, built in 1921. * St. Cloud Hospital, part of CentraCare Health, was founded in 1886 as St. Benedict's Hospital. The regional health system includes four smaller hospitals and numerous outreach and outpatient clinics and services. * Stearns County History Museum, with two floors of exhibits, a research area, a museum store, and a nature park. The only county museum in Minnesota accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. * Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, dedicated to preserving Minnesota's baseball history. * St. Cloud River's Edge Convention Center, a meeting center overlooking the Mississippi River. * St. Cloud Regional Airport, providing scheduled commercial turboprop passenger service, private, corporate, cargo and military operations. * St. Cloud Technical & Community College, a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. * Minnesota Correctional Facility – St. Cloud, built in 1889, housing nearly 1,000 prisoners. Economy Top employers According to St. Cloud's 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,City of St. Cloud CAFR the top employers in the city are: Media The main newspaper is the St. Cloud Times, a Gannett newspaper. The St. Cloud Diocese also publishes the St. Cloud Visitor, which serves the regional Catholic community. Television station KPXM-TV (channel 41), an "ion" network affiliate, is licensed to the city, though the signal also reaches the Twin Cities region. Low-power stations are: WCMN (channel 13) which is not always on the air, and K19BG (channel 19), a former TBN affiliate. Additional, St. Cloud State University students operate cable-only UTVS (channel 21), which includes local news. Radio stations include: ;AM * WXYG 540 AM "540 The Goat" (classic rock), Tri-County Broadcasting * WBHR 660 AM "660 The Bear" (sports), Tri-County Broadcasting * WVAL 800 AM (classic country), Tri-County Broadcasting * WMIN 1010 AM "Uptown 1010" Tri-County Broadcasting * KYES (AM) 1180 (religious programming), Gabriel Media * WJON 1240 AM (news/talk), Townsquare Media * KXSS 1390 AM (sports), Townsquare Media (affiliated with KFAN) * KNSI 1450 AM (news/talk), Leighton Broadcasting ;FM * KVSC 88.1 FM (college radio), St. Cloud State University * K208DV 89.5 "Air 1" (Contemporary Christian music), Educational Media Foundation * KNSR 88.9 FM (news/talk), Minnesota Public Radio * KSJR-FM 90.1 FM (classical music), Minnesota Public Radio * KCFB 91.5 FM (Christian radio), Minnesota Christian Broadcasters * KKJM 92.9 FM "Spirit 92.9" (Contemporary Christian music), Gabriel Media * KMXK 94.9 FM "Mix 94.9" (Adult Contemporary), Townsquare Media * KZRV 96.7 FM "REV 96.7" (Active Rock), Townsquare Media * WWJO 98.1 FM "98 Country" (country music), Townsquare Media * KZPK 98.9 FM "Wild Country 99" (country music), Leighton Broadcasting * KCML 99.9 FM "Lite 99.9" (Adult Contemporary), Leighton Broadcasting * WHMH 101.7 FM "Rockin' 101" (active rock), Tri-County Broadcasting * KNSI 103.3 FM (news/talk), Leighton Broadcasting * KLZZ 103.7 FM "The Loon" (classic rock), Townsquare Media * KCLD 104.7 FM (Top 40), Leighton Broadcasting Notable people *Mathew Ahmann, civil rights activist *Tom Burgmeier, Major League Baseball player. Grew up in St. Cloud and attended Cathedral High School.Tom Burgmeier at SABR Baseball Biography Project *Jim Eisenreich, Major League Baseball player *Howard M. Fish, retired American Air Force lieutenant general, former assistant vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force *Charles A. Gilman, ninth Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota *Janey Gohl, Miss Minnesota USA 1978 *Lawrence M. Hall, longest-serving Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives *June Marlowe, actress notable for playing Miss Crabtree in the short-film series Our Gang *Stephen Miller, abolitionist, Civil War veteran, Republican politician, fourth governor of Minnesota *William P. Murphy, former Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court *Tom Petters, former CEO and chairman of Petters Group Worldwide,Nicole Muehlhausen, BIO: Tom Petters, KSTP.com, September 24, 2008, Accessed October 8, 2008, convicted for involvement in a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme *Reynold Philipsek, gypsy jazz guitarist *Michael Sauer, professional ice hockey player for the New York Rangers *Stephen Sommers, film director and alumnus of Cathedral High School and St. John's University *Charles Thomas Stearns, politician *Jane Swisshelm, newspaper owner and editor and abolitionist *Nate Wolters, professional basketball player *Gig Young, actor Sister cities * Spalt, Germany Popular culture *Courtroom scenes in the Disney Film The Mighty Ducks were filmed in St. Cloud, and a few scenes were filmed at the Municipal Athletic Complex (MAC) but did not make the final film. *Senator Al Franken and Tom Davis's One More Saturday Night is set in St. Cloud, but was not filmed there. *''Juno'' was partially set in St. Cloud, which is referred to as "East Jesus Nowhere", though no filming took place in the city. *The song "On a Bus to St. Cloud", by Gretchen Peters, is on Trisha Yearwood's 1995 album Thinkin' About You. *In 2005, Penn & Teller: Bullshit! shot an episode on the SCSU campus. *In the 2007 horror movie 1408, St. Cloud is mentioned as one of the scariest places the protagonist has visited while investigating haunted houses. *Judith Guest and Rebecca Hill's novel Killing Time in St. Cloud is set in the eponymous city. *John Bellairs's character Mr. Emerson is from St. Cloud. *In the novel The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood, the main character's mother grew up in the city. *In the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, Marshall Eriksen (as well as the whole Eriksen family) is from St. Cloud. Throughout the series, St. Cloud is visited by several characters several times, but is portrayed as a much smaller town than it is in reality. *The post-hardcore band For All Those Sleeping formed in St. Cloud http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH3E6kWcu5Y See also * 1998 St. Cloud explosion References External links }} * City website *Movies and television shows filmed in St. Cloud * St. Cloud Area Schools site * Granite Country.com -- St. Cloud Area Visitor Information site * St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce * St. Cloud Neighborhood Coalition * [http://www.sctimes.com/ St. Cloud Times newspaper site] * St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, performing concerts since 1975. Category:St. Cloud, Minnesota Category:Cities in Minnesota Category:Cities in Benton County, Minnesota Category:Cities in Sherburne County, Minnesota Category:Cities in Stearns County, Minnesota Category:St. Cloud metropolitan area Category:County seats in Minnesota Category:Settlements established in 1853 Category:University towns in the United States Category:Minnesota settlements on the Mississippi River